Arnold Leroy Lewis Junior
Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Arnold Leroy Lewis Junior (Ret.) (SN: 56225-24991-AL) is a United Nations Space Command (UNSC) Marine Corps Staff Non-Commissioned Officer (SNCO) and a product of Project: ORION. Early Life Arnold Leroy Lewis Junior was born in the Los Angeles Industrial Area, United Republic of North America, Earth to a UNSC Army member and a stay-at-home wife. While growing up, he was involved with gangs as his Father was frequently gone from home, and they didn’t have much money. He stole, mugged, and sold drugs for UN Credits, while working hard in school so that afterwards, he could have a good life. One day in High School, a UNSC Marine Corps recruiter came to Lewis’ school. Although the UNSC was engaged in a war that was ever-more so growing unpopular, Lewis liked the man’s uniform, as well as the numerous ribbons and medals that were on his chest. That day, he talked to the recruiter, took an aptitude test, and signed a contract to join the Marines. Recruit Training On May 30th, 2489, Lewis boarded a UNSC transport to Reach, the second most populated UNSC Colony after Earth. Once he arrived, him, along with twenty-nine other recruits boarded trucks to a remote military reservation to begin training. The first sight Lewis saw upon reaching the military reservation was a UNSC Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant, wearing the ages-old campaign hat, colloquially known as a “smokey bear”. The Gunnery Sergeant went through the usual speech, “welcoming” the new recruits to their new home, and then ordering them to get off of “his” bus and to get onto “his” yellow foot prints. Lewis did so, wanting not to screw around for fear of being yelled at by the Drill Instructors. After running a gauntlet and receiving military-issue uniforms, they were taken to their barracks, where they held a “G.I. Party”, cleaning the already spotless barracks and latrines until their hands ached. That night, Lewis felt a pang of regret, but decided to stay past the given three-day period, wanting to earn the coveted “Eagle and Globe”, the symbol of the United Nations Space Command Defense Force (UNSCDF). After a hard twenty weeks of recruit training, Lewis graduated first in his class, qualifying Marksman (the lowest grade of marksmanship) with the standard Assault Rifle. With the suggestion of his Drill Instructors, he signed up for Naval Special Warfare, and following a grueling six-month course, became a NAVSPECWAR Operative. As a Naval Special Warfare Operator, he conducted many missions against rebel forces on Far Isle, until his unit was pulled out after taking numerous casualties. Project: ORION In the fall of 2491, the Office of Naval Intelligence, Section III, NAVSPECWAR began a top-secret project to develop new weapons, tactics, and a new generation of Special Forces soldiers in the UNSC. A subsection of Project: ORION was the SPARTAN-I Program, a classified operation to take Naval Special Warfare Operatives and make them into super-soldiers. Lewis was selected for this program due to his abilities in Close Quarters Combat, and was inducted along with numerous other Naval Special Warfare Specialists, including Hank J. Wimbleton IV. After two years of training, they were given highly experimental surgery and drugs to improve their combat effectiveness. Those who lived became some of the greatest soldiers available to the UNSC; however, many more would become mentally unstable, being institutionalized. The data gathered from the project would be studied and reviewed, and changes in protocol were written up and suggested, and would become the basis for the SPARTAN-II program. Lewis was one of those who made it, and was attached to a unit along with Hank Wimbleton and Dean Jackson. Operation: SAGURAO records Operation: SAGUARO During Operation: SAGUARO, a team of six SPARTAN-Is landed on the rebel-controlled planet of Arizona III. This battle record is classified Eyes Only under code Kappa Sigma. Operation: SPY GLASS Operation: SPY GLASS was the umbrella name for all ORION operations on the newly colonized world of Harvest, which included Operation: KALEIDOSCOPE and Operation: TELEIDOSCOPE. Operation: KALEDIOSCOPE was the mission to neutralize the leader of the Successionist Union in 2502, who was Jerald Mulkey Ander. The mission was a success, as a young sniper killed Ander with an M99 Gauss Rifle. In 2503, the Successionist Union reformed, although in a smaller variation of what it used to be. ORION teams raided the prefabricated buildings on Harvest, killing numerous leaders of the SU, effectively ending the possibility that Harvest would try to break from the UNSC. Operation: TANGLEWOOD Operation: TANGLEWOOD was a United Nations Space Command operation attempted in early 2550 to halt rebel activities on Jericho VII and Charybdis IX. On Jericho VII, an ORION detachment conducted raids on rebel compounds and safe houses, capturing and killing numerous rebel Lieutenants, and halting arms deliveries from Charybdis IX. After a four month operation, all ORION members were pulled from the Jericho VII theatre of operations after an informant within ONI sold information about the ORION members to the rebels. The ONI informant was later found, caught, and executed, and the information was later found after a forced confession. Using intelligence gathered from the Jericho VII campaign, the ORION team was sent to Charybdis IX to track down the sale of illegal firearms to rebel forces, operating out of a small atmospheric airport. They raided several office buildings, capturing the rebel's lead arms dealer, and destroying numerous amounts of weapons and drugs bound to be sold to rebels and civilians alike. The operation ended after a botched mission to capture two rebel Lieutenants, which caused the death of five ONI operatives and fifteen NAVSPECWAR operators. Although the mission was a "success", Charybdis IX would become a hotbed of rebel and anti-UNSC activity, and arms dealerships operating from the planet would continue to grow. Operation: EPIMETHEUS Operation: EPIMETHEUS was the "sequel" to Operation: TANGLEWOOD, mainly focusing on the tracking and destruction of rebel arms shipments to Madrigal, a planet known for its ties to rebel activities. A Naval Special Warfare Detachment was deployed, and on the planet, they sent intelligence back to their ONI handlers detailing rebel arms shipments, which were stopped as they exited slip space near colonies such as Tribute, Victoria, and Charybdis IX. Disguising themselves as a rival faction, the NAVSPECWAR detachment and their ONI handlers raided several ships on their way out of Madrigal, as well as destroying numerous warehouses stockpiled with weapons and other novelty items such as Sweet William Cigars and Alt Burgandy. Lewis was captured following a sneaking mission around a rebel compound, and was tortured. Although he came close to being broken, he didn't tell a word, and was able to hold out until ONI picked up a distress signal from a chip embedded in his skin. The NAVSPECWAR unit raided the compound, freed Lewis, and captued several rebel leaders, sending them to ONI operated prisons on worlds not known to the public. Lewis was awarded the POW medal and the Silver Star for his actions. Operation: TREBUCHET Operation: TREBUCHET was probably the largest UNSC operation during the Insurrection. During Operation: TREBUCHET, numerous Naval Special Warfare Operatives and ONI Spies were called up to clear out all rebel activity from UNSC controlled territory. From 2513 to 2515, Lewis and his NAVSPECWAR Team operated on Eridanus II during the UNSC negotiations, quietly taking out high-ranking members of the rebel faction, trying to break the will of the leader. However, this only strengthened his resolve, leading to the chain of events that would eventually ruin negotiations. The UNSC began to ravage Elysium City, leading more and more to public dissatisfaction with the war. In 2520, Lewis and his NAVSPECWAR Team began operations with other teams on Circumstance, keeping terrorist forces from killing more civilians. After operations ceased on that planet, Lewis and his team was re-deployed after a two year break period to Tribute to target and eliminate Insurrectionist bomb making factories. Lewis and his team were deployed along with other teams, taking out separate sites once they received intelligence. In June of 2524, two squads were annihilated when a team leader and Sniper failed to take out an Insurrectionist bomber. Lewis attended the funerals for the dead, and in 2524, he was pulled from the system and sent back to Reach for medical evaluations and physical examination. When he heard the first reports from Harvest, he punched a hole in a bar wall, and then composed himself and grabbed various weapons and attempted to commandeer a UNSC Yacht to take the fight to the Covenant. He was stopped and was assigned to a new unit, which in 2533, was sent to Jericho VII. Human-Covenant War In 2524, an alien race calling itself “The Covenant” began a campaign to wipe out Humanity from the Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. At this time, Lewis was a Staff Sergeant, and would be one of the Marines to spearhead the assault against their new-found enemies. Battle of Jericho VII Lewis moved to Jericho VII two years before a Covenant fleet appeared and attempted to invade. Lewis was assigned, along with his NAVSPECWAR team, to hold a cruicial point, where all of the major highways on the planet merged into one. In a carefully planned slaughter, they planted mines on the road and in the fields, and took up positions in ditches that surrounded the road way. When a Covenant convoy reached the crossroads, the mines detonated, in addition with C-12 explosive, detonating whatever vehicles had been there. All dismounted troops, featuring one Major Elite, were killed by the NAVSPECWAR team. Following this, they were re-deployed, burning everything they had left before them. After two days, the team was pulled from the area, and Jericho VII was glassed. Battle of New Harmony During the Battle of New Harmony, Lewis’ NAVSPECWAR team was deployed to the planet, taking out many Covenant combat groups that had landed there. Holding crucial points and setting up booby traps in the city, they managed to hold them off until the Covenant moved to glass the planet. They were evacuated by a UNSC Prowler, and were attached to Admiral Danforth Whitcomb’s fleet, now moving to New Constantinople. Battle of New Constantinople During the Battle of New Constantinople, Lewis and a new NAVSPECWAR team were stationed on a UNSC Carrier attached to an Admiral Danforth Whitcomb’s fleet. When Covenant boarders appeared and attached to the ship, they were sent, along with ODSTs that were onboard to take out any and all boarders that managed to survive the massive barrage from the point defense guns. After a heated CQC firefight, involving the use of grenades and shot guns, the Covenant boarders were repelled. However, a bomb was planted on the ship, and none of them had any experience with Covenant anti-matter weaponry. The ship was evacuated, and all survivors were picked up by the victorious UNSC fleet. Siege of Paris IV In 2549, Lewis was attached with the Marine Garrison at Paris IV, being detached from Naval Special Warfare to teach and train normal Marines advanced combat techniques. When the Covenant invaded, the Garrison held the city long enough for evacuation ships to leave the planet. When the Covenant finally stormed the city, all UNSC forces were evacuated from the surface by whatever the UNSC had at its disposal, including Prowlers, short range shuttles, and Frigates. Defense of Guadeloupe II After the Siege of Paris IV, Lewis and the members of his platoon had stopped off at Guadeloupe II, a UNSC refitting station for battle-damaged ships. It also had a major ONI garrison, which was heavily armed with prototypical weapons. When a Covenant Missionary Vessel appeared in orbit, and was quickly shot down by UNSC Anti-aircraft batteries. As standard operating procedure (SOP), the ONI garrison destroyed any and all documents, and all UNSC forces began to evacuate. However, a Covenant battle group appeared before the preparations were complete, and all who were on the planet fought valiantly to defend the ONI garrison from Covenant landing forces. After all the ONI documents and navigational data were destroyed, the Covenant forces appeared to retreat, but they all knew better. Lewis and his platoon evacuated on a UNSC Prowler minutes before the planet was glassed. Battle of Reach In 2551, Lewis was assigned to Reach, resting from battle wounds that he had received during Paris IV and Guadeloupe II. He was assigned as a Drill Instructor, training new Marines before they were deployed with the various fleets fighting Covenant forces all across the colonies. After a year of comfortable living and rest, a Covenant fleet, following a probe attached to the UNSC Iroquois after the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV, appeared in the Epsilon Eridani System, and quickly moved to invade the main UNSC base. Lewis and his DI’s, including his trainees, fought to hold off the Covenant forces, but one after another fell to the Covenant onslaught, and after erasing Navigational Data in their base, they evacuated on a UNSC Destroyer, which initiated the Cole Protocol, jumping to an unknown system, then to the Sol System, where Humanity’s home world, Earth, lay. First Battle of Earth After making it back to Earth, Lewis was stationed near Mombasa, Africa, along with numerous other UNSC forces. Word about gigantic rings called “Halo” had spread around, along with the sole survivors of the battle: SPARTAN-117 and Avery Johnson. Along with them were surviving SPARTANs from the Battle of Reach, and Humanity received a huge boost. Life went normally for about two weeks, until a Covenant exploration fleet headed by the Prophet of Regret appeared in the Sol System. No one in the UNSC knew how they had found Earth, and the UNSC strangely repelled the invading forces, leading to a conclusion that the Covenant didn’t know about Humanity being in that system either. After a long and hard fought battle in the outskirts of New Mombasa, a Covenant Assault Carrier made an in-atmosphere slip space jump, destroying the city. Thankfully, Lewis was nowhere near the city center, instead, was in a Pelican moving towards the city after retreating to a base codenamed “CROW’S NEST”. Word about a distress signal from the Assault Carrier was sent out to any and all high-ranking UNSC military members, including now First Sergeant Arnold Lewis. The UNSC prepared for a second invasion, quickly rebuilding, along with Misriah Armory on Mars churning out numerous weapons. However, on November 3rd, 2552, a Covenant Fleet, led by a futuristic looking vessel fourteen kilometers long appeared in system, and began a massive invasion of the last bastion of Human defense. Second Battle of Earth During the Second Battle of Earth, Lewis was assigned to Europe, fighting against a Covenant excavation fleet that had landed there. Not knowing what they were looking for, Sergeant Major Lewis and his Marines hit hard, using anything and everything that was left in the UNSC Arsenal, including nuclear weapons, captured covenant weapons, and guerrilla tactics. During the Second Battle of Earth, Lewis would kill a Jiralhanae Chieftain after a very fierce battle between the Chieftain's Pack and Lewis' Platoon. The Chieftain charged Lewis with a Gravity Hammer, while Lewis stayed back, using a M7 SMG and M90 CAWS to fend off the Chieftain. After five minutes of dodging, Lewis somehow ended up behind the Chieftain, placing two shots from his shotgun into the back of the Jiralhanae's head. This battle record is currently classified Kappa Sigma by the Office of Naval Intelligence. Battle of Mars During the Covenant clean-up operations, Lewis was deployed to Mars, leading a Marine Corps company against the last surviving Jiralhanae packs. Lewis and his Marines picked off any and all remaining Covenant, finally pushing them into a small area. Upon doing so, UNSC ships bombarded the area with Magnetic Accelerator Cannons (MACs), obliterating the final remnants of Covenant activity in the Sol System. After-War After the Human-Covenant War, Lewis participated in the evaluation of UNSC Marine Corps actions during the Human-Covenant War. Lewis and more than a few other SNCOs and Officers ended up writing a seventy-five page report, including problems and upgrades to training, armor, and weapons. In 2554, Lewis was billeted for Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, and moved to Sydney, Australia with his wife. There, he served excellently as the enlisted head of the UNSC Marine Corps, going to many ceremonial functions celebrating and honoring those who died during the war. In 2557, he retired from the Marine Corps after sixty-eight years in the service. Afterwards, he wrote a book about the SPARTAN-I Program, titled “ONI’s Little Secret”, which became a best seller, despite the fact that it was heavily redacted. After thirty-five years of retirement, he died in his sleep at him and his wife’s home in Europe. His legacy lives on in his two sons, one who would go on to lead the UNSC’s Special Operations Command during the Necros War, and the other would become a Special Forces Operator on the front lines, attached to the STO. Augmentations During Project: ORION, Lewis was given experimental drugs to enhance combat performance: * Muscular enhancement injections: Protein complex is injected intramuscular, to increase tissue density and decrease lactate recovery time. Risk: 5 percent of test subjects experience a fatal cardiac volume increase. *'Carbide ceramic ossification:' Advanced material: special metal and ceramic layers, grafting onto skeletal structure to make bones virtually unbreakable. Recommended coverage not to exceed 3 percent total bone mass because of significant white blood cell necrosis. Specific risk for pre- and near-post pubescent adolescents: skeletal growth spurts may cause irreparable bone pulverization. * Superconducting fabrication of neural dendrites: Alteration of bio-electrical nerve transduction to shielded electronic transduction. Three hundred percent increase in subject’s reflexes. Anecdotal evidence of marked increase in intelligence, memory, and creativity. Risk: significant instances of Parkinson’s disease and Fletcher’s syndrome. *'Drug 009762-OO:' a mutagen that alters key regions of the subject's frontal lobe. It enhances aggression, strength, endurance, and tolerance to injury, which allowed fighting when they should be dead or in a coma. Negative effects include a loss in rational thinking and tactics. This is counter-balanced by the anti-psychotic and bipolar-integration drugs listed below. Due to the effects of the Drug, it was outlawed by the UNSC in 2513. *'Drug 009927-DG:' Miso-olanzapine, which is an anti-psychotic drug counters the mutagen's properties. *'Drug 009127-PX:' Cyclodexione-4, a bipolar-integration drug that counters the mutagen's properties. Effects *Strange regenerative abilities *Stronger than many other humans their size and weight *Increased chances of mental instabilities later in life *Longer life-span *Shortened reaction time *Advanced teamwork Mental Conditions Due to the heavy amount of combat experience and drugs used during the ORION Program, Lewis would have numerous mental conditions, including, but not limited to: *Psychopathic tendencies *Paranoia Further mental conditions are classified top secret by the Office of Naval Intelligence Section-0